Signed by President George Bush

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that makes changes to regulations regarding student costs for attending colleges, relationships between colleges and lenders, and student aid.

Highlights:

• Requires the Secretary of Education to make available online a list of the most expensive and least expensive colleges on a website, along with a list of the colleges that have had the largest increases in tuition and fee rates over a three year period (Sec. 111).

• Requires the colleges with the largest increases in tuition and fee rates to submit a report describing the causes of these increases and a description of how the institution will try to reduce costs (Sec. 111).

• Requires textbook publishers to disclose the retail cost of textbooks or supplemental materials, copyright dates of any previous editions, a description of the substantial content revisions, and whether any other format is available when college faculty select course materials (Sec. 112).

• Requires textbook publishers that bundle textbooks and supplemental materials to also sell them separately (Sec. 112).

• Requires colleges and institution-affiliated organizations that participate in a preferred lender arrangement to disclose the maximum amount of Federal grant and loan aid available to students on the organization's website (Sec. 120).

• Establishes federal grants to cover 50 percent of costs for colleges related to implementing emergency systems to notify the campus community of a significant emergency or dangerous situation through cellular, text message, or other advanced communication, and to develop procedures for the community to follow in case of an emergency or dangerous situation (Sec. 802).

• Requires colleges with on-campus student housing facilities to publish an annual fire safety report disclosing the number of fires and the cause of each fire, the number of injuries related to a fire that result in treatment at a medical facility, the number of deaths related to a fire, and the value of property damage caused by a fire (Sec. 488).

• Requires colleges to disclose the report on disciplinary proceedings conducted against an alleged perpetrator of any violent crime or a nonforcible sex offense to the alleged victim upon written request (Sec. 493).

• Prohibits private educational lenders from engaging in revenue sharing with a covered college and from directly or indirectly offering gifts to a college in exchange for any advantage or consideration related to its private education loan activities (Sec. 1011).

• Expands federal Pell Grants to allow awards of up to two grants for students taking more than two semesters or the equivalent each year (Sec. 401).

• Raises the maximum Pell grant from $5,800 to $8,000 per academic year by 2014 (Sec. 401).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that makes changes to regulations regarding student costs for attending colleges, relationships between colleges and lenders, and student aid.

Highlights:

• Requires the Secretary of Education to make available online a list of the most expensive and least expensive colleges on a website, along with a list of the colleges that have had the largest increases in tuition and fee rates over a three year period (Sec. 111).

• Requires the colleges with the largest increases in tuition and fee rates to submit a report describing the causes of these increases and a description of how the institution will try to reduce costs (Sec. 111).

• Requires textbook publishers to disclose the retail cost of textbooks or supplemental materials, copyright dates of any previous editions, a description of the substantial content revisions, and whether any other format is available when college faculty select course materials (Sec. 112).

• Requires textbook publishers that bundle textbooks and supplemental materials to also sell them separately (Sec. 112).

• Requires colleges and institution-affiliated organizations that participate in a preferred lender arrangement to disclose the maximum amount of Federal grant and loan aid available to students on the organization's website (Sec. 120).

• Establishes federal grants to cover 50 percent of costs for colleges related to implementing emergency systems to notify the campus community of a significant emergency or dangerous situation through cellular, text message, or other advanced communication, and to develop procedures for the community to follow in case of an emergency or dangerous situation (Sec. 802).

• Requires colleges with on-campus student housing facilities to publish an annual fire safety report disclosing the number of fires and the cause of each fire, the number of injuries related to a fire that result in treatment at a medical facility, the number of deaths related to a fire, and the value of property damage caused by a fire (Sec. 488).

• Requires colleges to disclose the report on disciplinary proceedings conducted against an alleged perpetrator of any violent crime or a nonforcible sex offense to the alleged victim upon written request (Sec. 493).

• Prohibits private educational lenders from engaging in revenue sharing with a covered college and from directly or indirectly offering gifts to a college in exchange for any advantage or consideration related to its private education loan activities (Sec. 1011).

• Expands federal Pell Grants to allow awards of up to two grants for students taking more than two semesters or the equivalent each year (Sec. 401).

• Raises the maximum Pell grant from $5,800 to $8,000 per academic year by 2014 (Sec. 401).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that makes changes to regulations regarding student costs for attending colleges, relationships between colleges and lenders, and student aid.

Highlights:

• Requires the government to make available online a list of the most expensive and least expensive colleges on a website, along with a list of the colleges that have had the largest increases in tuition and fee rates over a three year period (Sec. 109).

• Requires the colleges with the largest increases in tuition and fee rates to submit a report describing the causes of these increases (Sec. 109).

• Requires textbook publishers to disclose the retail cost of textbooks and supplemental materials before selling them to school officials (Sec. 110).

• Requires textbook publishers that bundle textbooks and supplemental materials to also make the textbooks and supplemental materials available separately (Sec. 110).

• Requires colleges and lending institutions to disclose to the government any preferred lender relationships (Sec. 115).

• Prohibits colleges from entering into any kind of revenue sharing arrangement with lenders (Sec. 115).

• Expands federal Pell Grants to allow awards of up to two grants for students taking more than two semesters or the equivalent each year (Sec. 401).

• Raises the maximum Pell grant from $5,800 to $9,000 per academic year (Sec. 401).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text